My classmates chose martial arts and fantasy, but I chose the prehistoric world.

Di Xin gazed thoughtfully at Meng Chuan's departing figure.

Two days later, a Taoist priest who called himself "Shen Gongbao" arrived in Chaoge City.

He claimed that he had a way to quell the rebellion in the North Sea and came to see the king.

When Di Xin heard this news, his admiration for Meng Chuan deepened even further.

"The teacher was absolutely right!"

He pondered for a moment, then ordered Shen Gongbao to be summoned.

When Shen Gongbao entered the main hall, Meng Chuan was sitting in a corner drinking tea.

He glanced up and sized up this notorious troublemaker from the Investiture of the Gods story—

This man was of medium height, with a thin face and a goatee. His eyes darted around, revealing a shrewdness and cunning.

He was wearing a gray Taoist robe, which looked simple and unadorned, but Meng Chuan could tell at a glance that the robe was extraordinary—it was a defensive magic artifact of a high grade.

More importantly, Meng Chuan's gaze sharpened slightly.

He saw it.

The "cause and effect lines" on this person's body are strange.

The cause-and-effect relationship of a normal living being is connected to itself on one end and to all things in heaven and earth on the other, intricate and complex.

However, the causal lines on Shen Gongbao's body, though seemingly complete, lacked a sense of "foundation"—like a painting, no matter how realistic, it is ultimately not a real person.

"A clone?"

Meng Chuan sneered inwardly, "No, it's not just a clone... This is a 'life soul puppet' that has been crafted by someone. It only has a wisp of a soul inside, and the real soul is not here at all."

He understood instantly.

The "Shen Gongbao" in front of us is actually a spy who has been pushed to the forefront.

The real Shen Gongbao is currently hiding somewhere, remotely controlling this puppet.

"interesting."

Meng Chuan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and remained expressionless.

He wanted to see how this play would go on.

Shen Gongbao walked to the center of the hall, bowed, and said, "This humble Taoist priest, Shen Gongbao, pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Di Xin sat on his throne, scrutinizing him: "I heard you have a way to quell the rebellion in the North Sea?"

"Indeed." Shen Gongbao raised his head, a confident smile on his face. "Although I am not talented, I have traveled the world for many years and made friends with many capable and extraordinary people. If Your Majesty agrees, I am willing to go to the North Sea and persuade the various lords to withdraw their troops."

"Persuade?" Di Xin raised an eyebrow. "How to persuade?"

"Explain with reason and appeal to emotions."

Shen Gongbao spoke flawlessly, "The reason why the seventy-two lords rebelled is simply because they felt that the court's oppressive policies were more ferocious than tigers. As long as Your Majesty is willing to reduce the taxes of Beihai for three years and send envoys to appease them, I am confident that I can get them to lay down their weapons and submit to me again."

These words sounded reasonable, and many ministers nodded in agreement.

But Meng Chuan sneered inwardly.

Tax reduction or exemption? Appeasement?

That sounds nice, but it doesn't.

If Di Xin agreed to these conditions, it would be tantamount to showing weakness to the rebels. If other feudal lords followed suit, what would become of the Shang dynasty's authority?

More importantly, what this puppet said was not to persuade Di Xin at all, but to test Meng Chuan's reaction.

Di Xin did not immediately refuse, but instead looked at Meng Chuan in the corner: "What does the teacher think?"

Meng Chuan put down his teacup, stood up, walked over to Shen Gongbao, and looked him up and down.

Shen Gongbao felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, but still maintained his smile: "This must be the legendary Imperial Tutor, Fellow Daoist Meng Chuan, right? I've heard so much about you."

Do you know me?

Meng Chuan asked.

"Your name is renowned far and wide."

Shen Gongbao laughed and said, "Although I cultivate in the deep mountains, I have heard that a great master has come to Chaoge and has been honored as the Imperial Tutor by the King. Seeing him today, I can confirm that he is indeed extraordinary."

"Oh." Meng Chuan nodded, then suddenly asked, "Do you know what kind of person I hate the most?"

Shen Gongbao's smile froze slightly.

"What I hate most are people who think they're smart and treat others like fools."

Meng Chuan's tone was calm, but every word was like a needle piercing Shen Gongbao's heart. "Especially—this guy doesn't even dare to show his true form, only sending a puppet to fool people."

Upon hearing this, Shen Gongbao's expression changed drastically!

The civil and military officials in the hall were all stunned, not understanding what Meng Chuan was talking about.

"What do you mean by that, fellow Daoist?"

Shen Gongbao forced himself to remain calm, "This humble Taoist doesn't understand..."

"not understand?"

Meng Chuan smiled slightly, extended his finger, and flicked it lightly in the air—

An invisible force of law spread out like ripples, striking Shen Gongbao precisely between the eyebrows!

There was a crisp "snap" sound!

Shen Gongbao's body suddenly stiffened, and then cracked open like porcelain!

A blinding white light shone through the crack, and then—

"Bang!"

His entire body exploded, turning into countless points of light!

After the light dissipated, only a palm-sized yellow talisman remained, which floated gently to the ground.

The talisman was covered with dense runes, with the three characters "Shen Gongbao" written in the middle. At this moment, it had been half shattered by the power of the law.

The main hall was completely silent.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the talisman on the ground in disbelief.

That living, breathing person was just a talisman in disguise?!

"What...what kind of sorcery is this?!"

One of the ministers exclaimed in surprise.

"It's not sorcery, it's a puppet talisman."

Meng Chuan bent down to pick up the talisman, weighed it in his hand, and said calmly, "Someone used this talisman to create a soul puppet, infusing it with a wisp of their soul to make it look exactly like a real person. The real Shen Gongbao is currently hiding somewhere, controlling this puppet remotely."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall before finally settling on Di Xin: "Your Majesty, do you understand now? There is indeed someone manipulating the rebellion in the North Sea. And this Shen Gongbao is nothing more than a spy sent to test our strength."

Di Xin's face turned extremely ugly.

He wasn't stupid; he naturally understood what this meant.

If someone can create a lifelike "Shen Gongbao" using just a talisman, how terrifying must that person's methods be?

"teacher……"

Di Xin took a deep breath, suppressing his shock. "In your opinion, what force is behind this?"

"It's too early to say."

Meng Chuan tucked the torn talisman into his sleeve. "However, since they've already made their move, we can't just sit idly by. Your Majesty, send troops to quell the rebellion in the North Sea. As for the person behind this—I'll deal with him."

Di Xin nodded, a glint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes: "Alright! Then I'll leave it to you, teacher!"

That night, Meng Chuan returned to his residence.

He closed the door, took out the half of the talisman, placed it on the table, and examined it carefully.

Although half of the runes on the talisman were shattered, the remaining parts were still clearly discernible.

This is an extremely ancient technique for crafting puppet talismans, of a very high grade, and is definitely not something that ordinary cultivators can master.

"The methods of the Chan sect... but they also incorporate something else."

Meng Chuan's fingers gently traced across the talisman, sensing the lingering aura on it. "This aura... it's somewhat like that of the Western religion."

He squinted and fell into deep thought.

In the original script of the Investiture of the Gods, Shen Gongbao was originally a disciple of the Chan Sect, but he was later expelled from the sect and went around persuading disciples of the Jie Sect to come down the mountain, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Jie Sect.

But few people noticed that Shen Gongbao's actions were actually most beneficial to the Western Religion.

After the destruction of the Jie Sect, a large number of its disciples were taken away by the Western Sect and became its guardian deities.

Although the Chan Sect won a great victory in the Investiture of the Gods, it was also severely weakened. Several of the Twelve Golden Immortals had their three flowers on their heads removed and had to start all over again.

The only one that was unharmed and even strengthened was the Western religion.

"If Shen Gongbao was a pawn planted by the Western Religion from the very beginning..."

Meng Chuan tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze growing increasingly profound. "This great calamity of the Investiture of the Gods is probably much more interesting than I imagined."

He put the talisman away, stood up, and walked to the window.

The night sky is dotted with stars.

Meng Chuan's gaze pierced through the heavy darkness, looking westward.

In that direction, there is a sacred mountain called "Mount Sumeru," where two celestial saints live—the Guide Daoist and the Zhunti Daoist.

The roles played by these two bald monks in the Investiture of the Gods were far more complex than they appeared on the surface.